Historical Detective
What is bias?
A viewpoint/preference that affects a source.
What is absolutism?
Rule with power concentrated in the monarch.
What are natural rights?
Rights people naturally have.
Who believed in natural rights?
Locke
Who should government serve?
The people
What is point of view?
The position someone speaks from.
What was divine right?
The belief that a monarch's authority came from God.
What is consent of the governed?
Government gets authority from the people.
Who supported separation of powers?
Montesquieu
Name one idea that challenged absolute monarchy.
Natural rights / consent / separation of powers
Can a biased source still be true?
Yes.
Name two things absolute monarchs controlled.
Taxes, army, laws, officials, appointments — any two.
What does separation of powers do?
Divides government power.
Who believed sovereignty belonged to the people?
Rousseau
What challenged the idea of divine right?
Consent of the governed / social contract
Why does context matter?
It helps explain why people acted or thought differently.
How did Versailles help Louis XIV control nobles?
It made nobles dependent on the king.
Why divide government power?
To stop one person/group becoming too powerful.
What was Rousseau's general will?
The common good of the people.
Which thinker feared concentrated power?
Montesquieu
Why is saying “everyone thought that” dangerous?
People in the past did not all think the same way.
Why did Louis XIV keep nobles close at Versailles?
To limit their independent power and keep them dependent on him.
When could Locke say people should replace a government?
When it seriously violated people's rights.
Give one difference between Locke and Rousseau.
Locke = individual rights; Rousseau = collective sovereignty.
Why did Enlightenment ideas threaten absolute monarchy?
They challenged unlimited royal power and questioned where authority came from.